Artist Statement

Susie Gans began working on a potter’s wheel during her senior year of high school. Having already chosen a career path as an Occupational Therapist, she took an art class. The first semester focused on learning to throw pots, but she was allowed to continue for the whole year, with her final exam being the creation of a teapot. This encompassed all the techniques necessary for functional pottery — a pot, spout, lid, and handle. She was hooked!

Although there were long stretches when Susie couldn’t find a studio to continue studying, she has been consistently throwing on the wheel since 1998. She takes weekly classes at the Clay Art Center in Port Chester, NY, where she has been influenced by Georgia Tenore, Reena Kashyap, Jennifer Cherpock, Jeanne Carreau, and a myriad of other teachers, students, and residents who have all contributed to her craft. She focuses on functional pottery — food, microwave, and dishwasher safe for everyday use, whether it’s mugs, bowls, covered jars, utensil jars, vases, pitchers, berry and batter bowls, yarn bowls, earring holders, sponge holders, and more, most of her work is high fire cone 10 reduction. Susie has also taken classes with Bob Green at Snowfarm in Massachusetts, where she practices both decorative Raku and Saggar Pit firings. She is especially drawn to earth-toned glazes and finds joy in the learning process — creating different forms, trying new glaze combinations, and seeing others enjoy using what she creates.

Susie has been selling her work at various craft shows in New York and New Jersey since 2005. She finds great joy in meeting attendees and discussing pottery. Her philosophy of life is that one should never stop learning — a value she carried throughout her career as an Occupational Therapist (retiring in 2012), and one that continues to shape her work as a functional potter.